Diversity at the top: Evidence on board composition and representation

Alessandro Ghio, Juliette Senn, Sophie Giordano-Spring and Charles H. Cho

Chapter 25 in Handbook on Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility, 2024, pp 345-358 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether companies ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to corporate governance and diversity. Using a sample of French listed companies in the years 2012 and 2021, we analyze i) diversity in board composition and ii) CEO disclosure about diversity in their annual report letter. Despite growing societal pressure to increase diversity in organizations, our results show that over a ten-year period, companies have made almost no progress in terms of age and ethnic diversity of board members, while we observe more diversity in terms of gender. When it comes to the CEO letter, which sets the strategic direction for the company, we still observe little mention of diversity. Moreover, most of the images associated with the letter present a portrait of a white, Western, male CEO. Overall, our findings help to challenge the current organizational rhetoric about diversity in corporate governance by showing that diversity at the top is still limited.

Keywords: Business and Management; Economics and Finance; Environment; Politics and Public Policy General Academic Interest; Sustainable Development Goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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